Water quality and macroinvertebrate response to acidification following intensified summer droughts in a Western Australian wetland

2001 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bea Sommer ◽  
Bea Sommer ◽  
Pierre Horwitz ◽  
Pierre Horwitz

A decline in pH from ˜6 –8 to ˜4 –5 over a period of 4 years was detected during routine monitoring of surface waters at Lake Jandabup.This was accompanied by lower water levels,shorter periods of inundation and measurable changes in other attributes of the water:sulfate,iron and ammonium concentrations increased markedly,and filterable reactive phosphorus and colour (gilvin)decreased.Macroinvertebrate family richness did not change notably over this period,but there were shifts in community structure:ostracods,isopods and oligochaete worms became less abundant;amphipods,mayflies and gastropods disappeared,while ceratopogonids (Diptera)and macrothricid cladocerans increased in abundance.Historical evidence suggests that at least one other acidification event has occurred in the recent past.Mechanisms associated with the acidification,and the wetland ’s capacity to recover from such events,are discussed.

2012 ◽  
Vol 66 (9) ◽  
pp. 2033-2039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Lorenz ◽  
Martin T. Pusch

Recreational boating represents a major human use of inland waters in many regions. However, boating tourism may affect the ecological integrity of surface waters in multiple ways. In particular, surface waves produced by boating may disturb freshwater invertebrates, such as interrupting the filtration activity of benthic mussels. As mussels may significantly contribute to self-purification, disturbance may have crucial impacts on water quality, and thus on water tourism. In this paper we calculate the carrying capacity of a river section for sustainable boating tourism based on the preservation of water quality. This approach is complemented by spatial and social approaches for carrying capacity estimates. The ecological carrying capacity significantly decreases with lower water levels during summer. Hence, the analysis of variables that influence the river's carrying capacity allows the formation of recommendations for management measures that integrate social, touristic and ecological aspects.


1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 23-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Dor ◽  
N. Ben-Yosef

About one hundred and fifty wastewater reservoirs store effluents for irrigation in Israel. Effluent qualities differ according to the inflowing wastewater quality, the degree of pretreatment and the operational parameters. Certain aspects of water quality like concentration of organic matter, suspended solids and chlorophyll are significantly correlated with the water column transparency and colour. Accordingly optical images of the reservoirs obtained from the SPOT satellite demonstrate pronounced differences correlated with the water quality. The analysis of satellite multispectral images is based on a theoretical model. The model calculates, using the radiation transfer equation, the volume reflectance of the water body. Satellite images of 99 reservoirs were analyzed in the chromacity space in order to classify them according to water quality. Principal Component Analysis backed by the theoretical model increases the method sensitivity. Further elaboration of this approach will lead to the establishment of a time and cost effective method for the routine monitoring of these hypertrophic wastewater reservoirs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kees J. M. Kramer ◽  
Frank Sleeuwaert ◽  
Guy Engelen ◽  
Christin Müller ◽  
Werner Brack ◽  
...  

Abstract Chemical pollution of water bodies is a complex problem around the globe. When described by the extremes of the range of problem definitions, water bodies can be chemically polluted by a single compound that is emitted from a point source or an incidental spill, or by chronic diffuse emissions from local and upstream land uses. The resulting mixture exposures can vary in space and time, e.g. due to the use of pesticides in the crop growing season. The environmental management objectives are commonly to protect and restore surface waters against human influences. Currently, chemical pollution is globally judged for a selected set of compounds, by judging each of these individually in comparison with protective environmental quality standards. Research has provided a novel assessment paradigm (solution-focused risk assessment) and novel data, measurement methods and models to improve on current practices. Their adoption and application require establishing novel linkages between the diverse problem definitions and the novel approaches. That would assist water quality professionals to select the most effective option or options to protect and restore water quality. The present paper introduces the RiBaTox (River Basin Specific Toxicants assessment and management) web tool. It consists of short descriptions of the novel approaches (made available as Additional file 1) and a decision tree for end-users to select those. The overview of novel approaches collated in RiBaTox is relevant for end-users ranging from local water quality experts up till strategic policy developers. Although RiBaTox was developed in the context of European water quality problems, the methods provided by RiBaTox are relevant for users from (inter)national to local scales. This paper is part of a series of Policy Briefs from the EU-FP7 project SOLUTIONS (http://www.solutions-project.eu), which provide backgrounds on chemical pollution of surface waters and policy practices and proposed improvements.


Hydrology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Angeliki Mentzafou ◽  
George Varlas ◽  
Anastasios Papadopoulos ◽  
Georgios Poulis ◽  
Elias Dimitriou

Water resources, especially riverine ecosystems, are globally under qualitative and quantitative degradation due to human-imposed pressures. High-temporal-resolution data obtained from automatic stations can provide insights into the processes that link catchment hydrology and streamwater chemistry. The scope of this paper was to investigate the statistical behavior of high-frequency measurements at sites with known hydromorphological and pollution pressures. For this purpose, hourly time series of water levels and key water quality indicators (temperature, electric conductivity, and dissolved oxygen concentrations) collected from four automatic monitoring stations under different hydromorphological conditions and pollution pressures were statistically elaborated. Based on the results, the hydromorphological conditions and pollution pressures of each station were confirmed to be reflected in the results of the statistical analysis performed. It was proven that the comparative use of the statistics and patterns of the water level and quality high-frequency time series could be used in the interpretation of the current site status as well as allowing the detection of possible changes. This approach can be used as a tool for the definition of thresholds, and will contribute to the design of management and restoration measures for the most impacted areas.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-163
Author(s):  
C.W. Cuss ◽  
C.N. Glover ◽  
M.B. Javed ◽  
A. Nagel ◽  
W. Shotyk

The concentrations of trace elements (TEs) in large boreal rivers can fluctuate markedly due to changing water levels and flow rates associated with spring melt and variable contributions from tributaries and groundwaters, themselves having different compositions. These fluctuating and frequently high concentrations create regulatory challenges for protecting aquatic life. For example, water quality criteria do not account for changes in flow regimes that can result in TE levels that may exceed regulatory limits, and neither do they account for the markedly different lability and bioaccessibility of suspended solids. This review addresses the geochemical and biological processes that govern the lability and bioaccessibility of TEs in boreal rivers, with an emphasis on the challenges posed by the colloidal behaviour of many TEs, and their relationship to the dissolved fraction (i.e., <0.45 μm in size). After reviewing the processes and dynamics that give rise to the forms and behaviour of TEs in large boreal rivers, their relevance for aquatic organisms and the associated relationships between size and lability and bioaccessibility are discussed. The importance of biological variables and different forms of TEs for limiting lability and bioaccessibility are also addressed. Two case studies emphasize seasonal fluctuations and accompanying changes in the distribution of TE amongst different size fractions and associated colloidal species in large boreal rivers: the Northern Dvina and one of its tributaries, the Pinega River, both in Russia, and the Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada. Water quality in the Athabasca River is briefly discussed with respect to Canadian guidelines.


2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Posthuma ◽  
Werner Brack ◽  
Jos van Gils ◽  
Andreas Focks ◽  
Christin Müller ◽  
...  

Abstract The ecological status of European surface waters may be affected by multiple stressors including exposure to chemical mixtures. Currently, two different approaches are used separately to inform water quality management: the diagnosis of the deterioration of aquatic ecosystems caused by nutrient loads and habitat quality, and assessment of chemical pollution based on a small set of chemicals. As integrated assessments would improve the basis for sound water quality management, it is recommended to apply a holistic approach to integrated water quality status assessment and management. This allows for estimating the relative contributions of exposure to mixtures of the chemicals present and of other stressors to impaired ecological status of European water bodies. Improved component- and effect-based methods for chemicals are available to support this. By applying those methods, it was shown that a holistic diagnostic approach is feasible, and that chemical pollution acts as a limiting factor for the ecological status of European surface waters. In a case study on Dutch surface waters, the impact on ecological status could be traced back to chemical pollution affecting individual species. The results are also useful as calibration of the outcomes of component-based mixture assessment (risk quotients or mixture toxic pressures) on ecological impacts. These novel findings provide a basis for a causal and integrated analysis of water quality and improved methods for the identification of the most important stressor groups, including chemical mixtures, to support integrated knowledge-guided management decisions on water quality.


2001 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 44-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl E. Havens ◽  
Kang-Ren Jin ◽  
Andrew J. Rodusky ◽  
Bruce Sharfstein ◽  
Mark A. Brady ◽  
...  

In order to reverse the damage to aquatic plant communities caused by multiple years of high water levels in Lake Okeechobee, Florida (U.S.), the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) authorized a "managed recession" to substantially lower the surface elevation of the lake in spring 2000. The operation was intended to achieve lower water levels for at least 8 weeks during the summer growing season, and was predicted to result in a large-scale recovery of submerged vascular plants. We treated this operation as a whole ecosystem experiment, and assessed ecological responses using data from an existing network of water quality and submerged plant monitoring sites. As a result of large-scale discharges of water from the lake, coupled with losses to evaporation and to water supply deliveries to agriculture and other regional users, the lake surface elevation receded by approximately 1 m between April and June. Water depths in shoreline areas that historically supported submerged plant communities declined from near 1.5 m to below 0.5 m. Low water levels persisted for the entire summer. Despite shallow depths, the initial response (in June 2000) of submerged plants was very limited and water remained highly turbid (due at first to abiotic seston and later to phytoplankton blooms). Turbidity decreased in July and the biomass of plants increased. However, submerged plant biomass did not exceed levels observed during summer 1999 (when water depths were greater) until August. Furthermore, a vascular plant-dominated assemblage (Vallisnera, Potamogeton, and Hydrilla) that occurred in 1999 was replaced with a community of nearly 98% Chara spp. (a macro-alga) in 2000. Hence, the lake’s submerged plant community appeared to revert to an earlier successional stage despite what appeared to be better conditions for growth. To explain this unexpected response, we evaluated the impacts that Hurricane Irene may have had on the lake in the previous autumn. In mid-October 1999, this category 1 hurricane passed just to the south of the lake, with wind velocities over the lake surface reaching 90 km h-1 at their peak. Output from a three-dimensional hydrodynamic / sediment transport model indicates that during the storm, current velocities in surface waters of the lake increased from near 5 cm s-1to as high as 100 cm s-1. These strong velocities were associated with large-scale uplifting and horizontal transport of fine-grained sediments from the lake bottom. Water quality data collected after the storm confirmed that the hurricane resulted in lake-wide nutrient and suspended solids concentrations far in excess of those previously documented for a 10-year data set. These conditions persisted through the winter months and may have negatively impacted plants that remained in the lake at the end of the 1999 growing season. The results demonstrate that in shallow lakes, unpredictable external forces, such as hurricanes, can play a major role in ecosystem dynamics. In regions where these events are common (e.g., the tropics and subtropics), consideration should be given to how they might affect long-term lake management programs.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
Rita Yulianti ◽  
Emi Sukiyah ◽  
Nana Sulaksana

Daerah penelitian terletak di desa Muaro Limun, Kecamatan Limun Kabupaten Sarolangun Provinsi Jambi. Sungai limun, salah satu sungai besar di daerah kabupaten sarolangun yang dimanfaatkan oleh mayarakat sekitarnya sebagai sumber penghidupan. Penelitian bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh kegiatan penambangan terhadap kualitas air sungai Batang Limun, dan perubahan sifat fisik dan  kimia yang diakibatkan   kegiatan penambangan.Metode yang digunakan adalah  metode grab sampel, serta stream sedimen untuk dianalis di laboratorium. Sejumlah sampel diambil di beberapa lokasi Penambangan Emas berdasarkan Aliran Sub-DAS dan dibandingkan dengan beberapa sampel lain yang diambil pada lokasi yang belum terkontaminasi oleh kegiatan penambangan. Analisis kualitas air mengacu pada  SMEWWke 22 tahun 2012 dan standar baku mutu air kelas II dalam PP No 82 yang dikeluarkan oleh Menteri Kesehatan No. 492/Menkes/Per/IV/2010. Diketahui sungai Batang Limun telah mengalami perubahan karakteristik fisika dan kimia. Dari grafik  kosentrasi kekeruhan, pH, TSS, TDS  Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Hg terlihat bahwa penambang emas tanpa izin (PETI) dengan cara amalgamasi yang menyebabkan terjadinya penurunan kualitas air sungai. Sejak tahun 2009 sampai tahun 2015  sungai Limun dan sekitarnya terus mengalami penurunan kualitas air. Penurunan kualitas yang cukup tinggi terjadi  yaitu peningkatan nilai Rata-rata konsentrasi merkuri pada sungai Batang Limun dari 0,18ppb (0,00018 mg/l)  menjadi 0,3ppb (0,0003 mg/l), peningkatan tersebut dipengaruhi oleh proses kegiatan penambangan dan nilai tersebut masih dibawah standar baku mutu air kelas II  pp nomor 82 tahun 2010.Kata kunci :   Kualitas Air, Sungai Limun,TSS, Merkuri, PETI Limun river is one of the major rivers in the area of Sarolangun, which utilized by the society as a source of livelihood. The aim of study  to analyze the effect of mining activities on  the water quality of Batang Limun River, and the changes of physical and chemical properties of water. The method used are grab  and stream samples to  sediment analyzed in the laboratory. A number of samples were taken at several locations based Flow Gold Mining Sub-watershed and compared to some other samples taken at the location that has not been contaminated by mining activities. Water quality analysis referring to SMEWW, 22nd edition 2012 and refers to Regulation No 82 that issued by Minister of Health No. 492 / Menkes / Per / IV / 2010.The results showed that the Limun river has undergone chemical changes in physical characteristics. These symptoms can be seen from the discoloration of clear water in the river before the mine becomes brownish after mining, based on graphic of muddiness concentration: pH, TSS, TDS Cu, Pb, Zn, Mn, Hg have seen that  the illegal miner which used amalgamation caused deterioration in water quality, data from 2009 to 2015 Limun river and surrounding areas continue to experience a decrease in water quality. The decreasing of water quality showed in the TSS parameter which found in the area is to high based on  the standard of water quality class II pp number 82 of 2010. An increase in the value of average concentrations of mercury in the Batang Limun river before mine 0,18ppb (0.00018 mg / l) into 0,3ppb (0.0003 mg / l) on the river after the mine. The increase was affected by the mining activities and the value is still below the air quality standard Grade II pp numbers 82 years 2010, although the value is still below with the standards quality standard, the mercury levels in water should still be a major concern because if it accumulates continuously in the water levels will increase and will be bad for health. In contrast to the concentration of mercury in sediments that have a higher value is 153 ppb (0,513ppm ) .Key Words :   Water Quality, Limun River, Mercury, Illegal gold mining


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